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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478324">School Work</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805'>awgaskarth0805</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All Time Low (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:02:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,766</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478324</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jack takes a joke a bit too far, he learns something about Alex that he never knew.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>School Work</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is set in their freshman year of high school!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Dude, what if we just, like, stopped working on this homework, and went downstairs and continued working on that song that we started a few days ago?” Jack asked, looking over to Alex, who was sitting at his desk with his pre-calculus textbook open, while Jack was working on the same assignment, while sitting on Alex’s bed.<br/>“We can’t do that, Jack, you know we have to get this homework done, so our grades stay up. Both sets of our parents said that if our schoolwork started to slip because of the band, that they wouldn’t let us play shows and stuff. I see why you want to stop; this trigonometry shit is kind of confusing. Like, why would I ever need to have all of these different points on the unit circle memorized?” Alex asked back, rolling his eyes at the math problems staring back at him.<br/>“I’ve not found it to be super confusing, I think it’s more tedious than anything. Why do we have to memorize the degrees and the pi fraction things?” Jack continued, making Alex laugh some.<br/>“Who knows, dude. Hey, let’s get back to focusing on our work so we can get it done faster, which means that we’ll be able to go downstairs and work on those songs!” Alex exclaimed back. <br/>Alex was a bit surprised to hear Jack say that he wasn’t confused by what they were learning. Normally math wasn’t easy for either of them, but Alex figured that after reading everything over a couple more times, that it would all become much clearer.<br/>“If you insist, I guess. I can’t wait to be done with this shit,” Jack said, finally opening up his textbook and pulling out a piece of paper to write his answers on. <br/>As the next few minutes passed, Alex continued to look at his assignment, which was figuring out what quadrant different angles and fractions were in, and if they were positive or negative, but it just didn’t seem to click in his head. <br/>He knew that he could just look up the answers online and be done with everything, but he also knew he’d have to have all of this memorized for his next test, and if he didn’t have it memorized, it would hurt his grade, which would ultimately hurt the band, as well. <br/>Alex almost never asked Jack for homework help, since they always seemed to struggle with the same things, but since Jack understood everything really well this time, Alex decided that asking for some help would be a good idea.<br/>“Hey, Jack, I have a question about this stupid assignment,” Alex said, breaking the silence in the room. <br/>“Okay, I’ll do my best to help, what is it, man?” Jack asked back.<br/>“Well, I’m working on the questions about what quadrant all of these different things are in, and if they’re negative or positive. Since you seem to really have all of that down, how did you memorize it? Like, I really don’t think I’ll be able to memorize all of this stupid shit,” Alex said, sounding a bit frustrated.<br/>“Well, when you see an angle or faction, just try to think of their coordinates,” Jack replied.<br/>“I have to remember those, too? They’re all basically the same thing over and over again, but in different orders,” Alex pointed out.<br/>“Yeah, but the signs of the coordinates will tell you what quadrant the angle is in. like, if both coordinates are positive, that’s quadrant one. If they’re both negative, that’s quadrant three. Even the other two aren’t too hard to figure out,” Jack explained, making Alex start to feel badly about himself. <br/>Trying to not let this bother him, Alex took a deep breath before speaking again.<br/>“Well, I’m having a tough time figuring all of it out, how’d you memorize the coordinates? Surely, you had a method in doing it,” Alex continued.<br/>“Not really, man, I kind of just did it. I can’t believe you’re not just getting it; you’re supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us. I guess we’ve switched roles,” Jack said, laughing. Alex started to feel himself get angry, but he tried to keep himself calm.<br/>“No, I just don’t get this, and I’d really appreciate it if you could help me without all of the annoying comments,” Alex stated, sounding frustrated.<br/>“Alex, chill out man, it’s just a joke. But usually you are the smart one between the two of us, so it’s nice having it the other way around,” Jack said, still laughing as Alex’s face turned a bit red.<br/>“Jack, could you please just help me? That’s all I’m asking for here,” Alex said, sounding even angrier now.<br/>“Fine, but you have to say that I’m the smart one!” Jack exclaimed, laughing as Alex felt himself get pushed over the edge.<br/>“Jack, you know what, I’ll figure it out on my own. Fuck you,” Alex stated, looking down at his textbook, as he felt his mind start to spiral at an alarmingly fast pace.<br/>“Woah, I was just making jokes, I know you know that. There’s no need to get so offended over stupid shit like this,” Jack replied, starting to sound a bit nervous. He’d never seen Alex react to a joke like this, so he knew that something really wasn’t right.<br/>“Sometimes, jokes can hurt, dude,” Alex said, still intently looking at his book.<br/>“Well, yeah, but it’s us. We always joke around and shit. You usually never take yourself or anything like this so seriously, that’s why we’re best friends,” Jack pointed out.<br/>“Well, maybe we shouldn’t be, if you think I’m just going to take whatever little shot you fire at me. That’s fucked up, man,” Alex stated, his voice cracking some.<br/>“Alex, what’s going on, man? I’m sorry that I offended you, I really didn’t think that I would,” Jack tried, hoping that Alex would talk to him, and they could work whatever this was out, and go back to having a great day together.<br/>“You know what, it’s stupid, don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” Alex said, still not looking at Jack. <br/>“Please talk to me, dude, I can tell you’re really upset and I’m sorry. I want to make things better, but I need to know what I did wrong so I can fix it correctly,” Jack replied, sounding like he genuinely cared. Alex got up from his desk and sat next to Jack on the bed.<br/>“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise that you won’t make fun of me when I do,” Alex started, sounding serious.<br/>“Of course I won’t, dude, I promise,” Jack replied.<br/>“Okay, well, I got more offended than I should’ve because I’ve always been academically insecure. Well, not always, I guess, it started from getting picked on back in the years before I met you,” Alex admitted, sounding embarrassed.<br/>“I had no idea; how come you’ve never told me about any of this?” Jack continued.<br/>“Honestly, it’s hard to talk about. The group of people who I hung out with, the ones who I thought were my friends, decided to single me out when I didn’t get something right away in school. They did and said whatever they could to make me believe that I was stupid. I know I should just get over it, but it still fucks with me to this day,” Alex explained.<br/>“Really? I’ve never thought that was a problem you had,” Jack said.<br/>“Yeah, I wanted it to be like that. Usually, it’s something I deal with privately because it embarrasses me. I didn’t take any AP classes this year because all of those voices are in my head, telling me that I’m too stupid to take them and do well. Any time I get a rubric for a paper or project, I think to myself that I won’t be able to do it. That I’ll miss the mark and fuck it up,” Alex said, trying to wipe away a few stray tears that had managed to sneak up on him. Jack scooted closer to Alex and put an arm around his friend.<br/>“Hey, don’t cry, everything is going to be okay. I’m really sorry about what I’d said, if I’d known about this, there’s no way that I would’ve said it. Alex, I know you know this, but you are really smart. Out of the four of us in the band, you by far earn the best grades, and I’m honestly a little jealous that school is like that for you. I’m glad you finally talked to me about this, because you really are smart, and your confidence with school shouldn’t be determined by some shitty kids who you don’t even talk to anymore. It should be determined by the grades you make, which are usually pretty impressive. I won’t say anything like what I said earlier again, and if you’re ever feeling doubtful with school, just talk to me and I’ll remind you of how smart you are,” Jack assured, as they tightly hugged each other.<br/>“Thank you, Jack, that all really means a lot. I’m sorry for freaking out on you, I know you didn’t mean what you said, and you didn’t know that story, so don’t feel bad about this. Hopefully, I’ll just get over it someday,” Alex replied, wiping away his last few tears.<br/>“You have nothing to be sorry for, I’m just glad we worked this out, and I hope you know how smart you are. Do you still want some help with memorizing the quadrants on the unit circle? I’d love to help you if I can, but with less sarcastic comments this time,” Jack said, making them both laugh some.<br/>“Well, I should say yes, so I can get that damn assignment done, but I really don’t want to look at that shit right now, so why don’t we go downstairs, and work on those songs?” Alex suggested.<br/>“As long as you’re sure that you’ll actually still do the homework. Maybe I can try to help you after a bit of songwriting,” Jack replied.<br/>“I’d really like that. Thanks again for not making fun of me when I told you everything, I still hate talking about it and remembering it, but you made it just a little bit easier,” Alex stated.<br/>“No problem, I’m just glad you talked about it. Now, let’s go write us a hit!” Jack exclaimed. The two of them quickly stood up, then ran downstairs to the basement, eager to get some writing done.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys, this is an idea I've had for a while, that's also based off of my personal life! This is similar to something I posted recently, but I wanted to still write this, to make it more personal to me and my life! So, for the next 10 days, I'll be posting daily, leading up to my 200th fic! I have a mix of requests and original ideas, and my 200th fic will be a very special request, that I'm very excited to write! Please feel free to send in ideas if you have them, and thank you for reading this fic! Lots of love, Liv.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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